Things have fallen apart at the negotiations table between Floyd Mayweather, JR., and Manny Pacquiao for the March 13th proposed Super fight. According to a source close to the situation, neither side is willing to budge, and with the anger and emotions involved from Team Pacquiao, it is now unlikely that any compromise will be met. It is a near impossibility for this fight to move forward for March 13th.
What does this leave? The two options right now for Pacquiao are Yuri Foreman, who is apparently going to get the shot, or Paulie Malignaggi. The public backlash has made that bout unlikely to come off. Yuri Foreman is the perfect opponent for Manny. He doesn’t have a big punch, doesn’t have great defense, and keeps coming forward. He also holds a title in another weight division. Manny cannot lose and will not lose this fight, which seems like a “90% certainty,” according to a source close to the situation.
For Floyd Mayweather, there are many options, but none that are as attractive as a showdown with Pacquiao. His concerns over steroids may or may not be just, but whatever the case is, he just missed the biggest payday of his career and must now move on to much smaller game.
The winner of Mosley/Berto coming up in late January seems to be the frontrunner at this time and if Mosley should win, it would be an interesting showdown…but perhaps too little too late for it with Sugar Shane getting up there in years.
Another possibility that has been rumored to be in talks with Team Mayweather is Timothy Bradley. The energetic and quick fighter may be a good test for Floyd but it is unlikely to capture the public’s imagination.
What we have here, realistically, are two fighters with Floyd and Manny that are robbing the public. There has to be a happy medium with the drug testing. Have the medical experts ring in and they will come up with something that will work for all parties across the board. Who really wants to see a Pacquiao-Foreman or a Mayweather-Bradley? The money and the public interest is in a showdown between the two biggest names in boxing.
The pound for pound throne is on the line and the fans are divided up the middle. What we have now is just some mudslinging and your typical prefight nonsense that comes with a multi-million dollar business deal. Although the word right now is that this fight has been scrapped, I am still optimistic.
The throwing around of names like Bradley and Foreman may just be tactics by each side to force the other one’s hand. Both Manny and Floyd are used to having their own way and the fact that they have to do things that they don’t want to do is something that they are not used to. I think that we can throw out the March 13th date for a bout, but let’s see how it goes. I am not ready to give up just yet.
There is also this defamation suit filed by Pacquiao against Floyd to deal with. I assume that it will be eventually dropped and I couldn’t see Manny winning to begin with. It appears to be a quick response to the continual push for testing under their terms.
In other boxing news, Danny Green’s bad luck continues with the old timers. First, after the best fight of his life, knocking out the great Roy Jones, JR., in one round, he was hit with a backlash of allegations of his hand wraps. Although it is highly unlikely that the decision will be affected, it does seem to take away from the best win of his career.
The new old timer that is giving him grief is Bernard Hopkins. Hopkins, still wanting to fight Roy Jones for gobs and gobs of money, amazingly, has been in negotiations with Green for a fight, possibly in Australia, hoping he will do better than Jones.
Hopkins has made a career of pricing himself out of fights, valuing himself higher than the majority of the fans do. Not too many people jump for joy when Hopkins signs to fight anyone. This fight with Green would sell in Australia, but Hopkins has priced himself out of it, demanding what is rumored to be over 70% of the gate. With the majority of the people watching for Green and trying to see if he can knock out another old timer, I don’t think that this fight will materialize any time soon.
As always, stay tuned to RSR for all the latest news and up to date reliable updates on the Manny Pacquiao – Floyd Mayweather hopeful showdown.
